Some hydroforming devices have a substantially cuboid cylinder holder body including a hydraulic cylinder seat to which a hydraulic cylinder can be fixed, and which is configured to supply a hydroforming fluid to a workpiece to be shaped. The hydraulic cylinder seat extends substantially from a first face of the cylinder holder body to a second face, opposite the first face, of the cylinder holder body, and further has a base plate which is arranged on a third face positioned between the first face and the second face.
Hydroforming devices and cylinder holders of this type are known in the prior art and are made use of, in particular, for the hydroforming of tubular bodies within the context of internal high pressure forming (IHPF).
When constructing a hydroforming device, the cylinder holders need to be arranged in a predefined orientation relative to a hydroforming tool. This may be effected on a slotted table, for example.
The required relative orientation between the hydroforming tool and the cylinder holders is ensured here by specially fabricated cylinder holders for the hydroforming tool. That is, as a rule, each hydroforming device requires a set of cylinder holders to be produced. Such cylinder holders are generally produced in one piece.
As a result, construction of a hydroforming device is complicated and time-consuming. This is a drawback in particular in prototype construction because, as a rule, a large number of different orientations of the cylinder holders relative to the hydroforming tool are required here, while each time only small quantities of hydroforming components are manufactured.
The same is true when modular hydroforming tools are used, with the aid of which different components can be produced by the addition or removal of modules.
Against this background, KR 2011 003 1754 discloses a hydroforming device of the type mentioned at the outset, in which the cylinder holders can be positioned substantially freely relative to a hydroforming tool. For this purpose, the cylinder holder is designed in multiple parts. The various cylinder holder parts are displaceable in relation to each other by means of a plurality of tongue-and-groove connections.
It is the object of the invention to further improve adjustable cylinder holders and hydroforming devices having such cylinder holders. In particular, a cylinder holder is to be provided which is adapted to be oriented in relation to a hydroforming tool in a simple manner and, at the same time, can be simply and reliably fixed in a predefined position. The attachment here is intended to be capable of taking up the forces occurring during hydroforming.